Gilgandra

Windmills and artesian water

Gilgandra is situated above the subterranean water of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) and, specifically, over the Surat Sub-basin of the GAB. Artesian water occurs where porous rocks below the surface, called aquifers, store and carry water underground. When bores are sunk to reach the aquifers, windmills can draw the water to the surface to be stored in tanks. Well over a hundred years ago, windmills were being used by townspeople to access Gilgandra's fresh, drinkable artesian water for their households, and by farmers to obtain water for their stock. Windmills were being advertised in the first Gilgandra newspapers in 1905, with several local people selling and installing them, including plumber Bill Hitchen, later famous for organising the 1915 Cooee march. From the early twentieth century, locals and others referred to Gilgandra as a "town of windmills", and many references to that can be found.